Kolkata, March 2 Indian opener Sanju Samson shut down his phone and social media accounts to ensure that he did not lose self-belief during a difficult period that ended with a match-winning performance in the must-win T20 World Cup game against the West Indies here.
Samson smashed a 50-ball 97, with 12 fours and four sixes, to guide the team to victory in the challenging chase of 196 in the Super Eight game here on Sunday.
The 31-year-old was brought back to the opening slot following India's heavy defeat to South Africa in the Super Eight opener, to break the left-handed monotony of the defending champions' struggling top order.
"Shot selection was something I kept working on. I didn't want to make too many changes because I knew I had performed well with the same setup, so I kept believing in myself, turned off my phone, turned off social media, and listened to myself," Samson said on Star Sports after India's five-wicket win here on Sunday.
"I am very happy that it happened in such a special game."
Samson was, in fact, a lone warrior last night, with some support from captain Suryakumar Yadav (18) and Tilak Varma (27).
"It was a bit of a challenging chase. Looking at our batting power, I felt that chasing 190-odd at Eden Gardens, when the dew comes in, gets a bit easier, but losing wickets at regular intervals made it challenging," the wicket-keeper-batter acknowledged.
"To be honest, that's where my experience and my role played a big part. I got a good start, but when the wickets kept falling, I felt I needed to finish the game and take it to the very end.
"Normally, you feel like doing it, but it doesn't always happen, so I am very grateful that it happened in this game...when you are chasing a score like this in a high-pressure game, you take different options and play more boundaries rather than looking for risky options," he added.
Speaking on his run of underwhelming scores prior to last night, including the home series against New Zealand, Samson elaborated on the changes he made to his technique.
"Our human nature is that we often start with a negative thought like, 'Can I do it? I don't think I can.' When I have that thought, I try to change it with a very positive one. When I had a series like New Zealand where I wanted to perform and be part of the World Cup team, things didn't work out well, but luckily, I got a 10-day gap," he said.
"I didn't play any games and was not in the side. I kept thinking, 'Sanju, what else? Why didn't it work? What else should I do?' So I did some soul-searching. I worked on my base, how I set myself up, and came back to it.
"A lot of people had suggestions, and I saw a lot of valid points, but at the same time, I felt, 'Sanju, you have scored three international hundreds with the same setup'," he added.
Asked what the Kolkata knock meant for him, Samson said he feels lucky to live a dream that he has nurtured since childhood.
"More than 100 cricketers in India dream about a day like this. I dared to dream. A young guy from Trivandrum, Kerala, dreaming about playing for the country and winning a game in such a crucial match. I dared to dream, and it happened," he said.
